Take Me Home
by Princess Oats 435
Summary: To hurt someone, you take something they love. Or in Sandy Cohen's case, you take two somethings, someones, that he loves.
1. Chapter 1

So I posted this on LJ, but I thought I should put it up over here too. Please read and let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters.

* * *

Kirsten moaned and glanced around her surroundings. She blinked a few times and it came rushing back to her.

"Ryan," she breathed. She sat up panicked and glanced around. She found Ryan lying a few feet away from her and she immediately reached out and touched his arm. He woke with a start and looked around. "Ryan." She said it louder this time. This time he turned and looked at her.

"Kirsten? Are you okay?" She nodded numbly and reached out and wrapped her arms around him.

"Are you okay?" She whispered.

"Yeah," he said. "I'm all right. Or as all right as I can be, I guess." He sighed. "What do we do now?" Kirsten shook her head.

"I have no idea," she said holding onto her son.

* * *

Sandy was pacing in the living room, completely unsatisfied with the job that the police were doing.

This was his son.

This was his wife.

They had better hurry the fuck up and find them.

Seth was sitting on the edge of the couch, his arms wrapped around his long legs, and his chin resting on his knee. He looked like a little boy, and Sandy wanted to hold him, and tell him that they were going to be okay, they would find them. But he wasn't sure how much he believed that himself at this point, and so he couldn't find the words to reassure Seth.

"Mr. Cohen," Officer Davies stepped into the room hanging up the phone.

"Yes?" Seth's head shot up and he stood up next to his father.

"They found your wife's car."

* * *

The room that Kirsten and Ryan were in was bare besides two dirty mattresses on the floor. The lights were fluorescent and flickered above them. They were sitting on one of the mattresses, leaning against the wall. Kirsten shivered and Ryan reached out and took her hand.

"It's going to be okay," he said softly. She nodded, and knew that she was the adult, it was her job to remain calm, her job to reassure Ryan. But she was cold, and tired, and terrified, and she wasn't sure how she was going to reassure Ryan when she was having a hard time convincing herself that they were going to make it out of this okay.

"Where did they go?" She asked. Ryan shrugged.

It had started that morning in the kitchen. Seth was going to the comic book store, and Ryan had opted out. Sandy was working, like usual, and Kirsten had asked Ryan if he had any plans for the day.

"No?" He said. She had spent some quality time with Seth recently, and figured that it was about time that she did the same for Ryan.

"I was thinking we could hit up a few markets? I have to get some flowers for outside, and we could get some lunch? Drive along the coast?" Markets weren't really his thing, but Ryan agreed anyway, seeing how excited Kirsten seemed to be about this idea.

"Sure," he said nodding. He gave her a small smile. "That sounds great."

At the first market, Ryan found a stand with old books and began to flip through as Kirsten went to haggle with the man selling flowers. She came over with her arms full of tulips and looked over his shoulder at the book he was flipping through. He put it down immediately and moved to take the flowers from her. She picked up the book he had just put down. It was _The People's History of the United States_.

"Interesting choice," she said smiling at him.

"It looked pretty good," he replied shrugging. "Taylor, of all people, recommended it."

"How much?" She asked the guy.

"You don't have to…" Ryan started. Kirsten waved him away.

"I want to," she said smiling. She grabbed a law book for Sandy, and an old edition of _Pride and Prejudice _for herself and paid for the three. "I'm starving. Let's go get something to eat."

"Thanks, for the book," he said. Kirsten grinned and placed her arm around his shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

"Not a problem," she assured him. "Let's go, I have a craving for a hamburger." Ryan raised his eyebrows in surprise, and it was Kirsten's turn to shrug.

* * *

"Where was her car found?" Sandy asked Officer Davies.

"Abandoned on the shoulder of the 101," Officer Davies answered. "The steering wheel is the only thing missing." Not the only thing, Sandy thought. Kirsten's missing. Ryan's missing.

"What does that mean? That you found her car? Does that mean you know where they are?" Seth spoke up.

"No," Sandy said bitterly. "It just means they found her car. Right? It means absolutely nothing. You still have no idea where they are!" Why hadn't they found them by now? It had been hours since the phone call from Kirsten. She had called Sandy to check in, to tell him how wonderful of a day she and Ryan were having. They were stopped at a rest stop, Ryan had run into the bathroom.

"We're having a really great time, Sandy," she said, and he could feel her smiling over the phone.

"That's great, sweetheart," Sandy replied. He heard Ryan's voice in the background, and Kirsten said something to Ryan that Sandy couldn't quite place, and then there was another voice.

"Oh God," Kirsten had breathed.

"Kirsten, what's wrong?" Sandy asked. But all he heard was the phone clatter to the ground and the sound of Kirsten's screams for help.

"Don't hurt her!" Ryan yelled. And then the sound of a car driving away and Sandy had called the police, and they had traced where Kirsten had made the call, but both she and Ryan and her car were all gone.

"Dad," Seth said placing a calming hand on Sandy's arm. Sandy turned to look at his son. What if Seth had gone with Kirsten and Ryan this morning? What if he was standing there all alone? Trying to deal with this. He wrapped his arms around Seth and held him close for a minute, closing his eyes and just holding his son.

"Mr. Cohen, why don't we go over one more time what your wife and son were wearing?" It was something to make Sandy feel at least a little more useful than he was feeling at that particular moment.

"Um, Kirsten was wearing…she was wearing jeans, and a cream sweater, a turtleneck  
I think…and Ryan was wearing, he was wearing a pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt. Uh, and probably a leather jacket. And Kirsten's jacket is pink…pink tweed…" He shook his head. Another officer hurried into the living room, and whispered something into Officer Davies' ear.

"They found a ransom note."

* * *

Ryan's breathing was finally even, and Kirsten knew that he was asleep. He was lying within reach of her, per her request, and every so often she would reach out and run a hand through his hair.

They had been having a great day. They had a great lunch, and they were driving back to Newport looking for another market when Ryan asked if they could stop at the next rest stop. The next one was only a few minutes away, and Kirsten turned off and he thanked her and jumped out of the car and ran into the bathroom. They were the only ones in the parking lot, and she climbed out of the car to stretch her legs and wait for Ryan. She pulled out her phone and smiled to herself as she dialed Sandy's number. He answered on the second ring and she immediately started gushing about how much fun they were having.

"Hey, you ready?" Ryan asked as he reappeared.

"Yeah, just a second," she said giving him a smile. She heard the other car pull up, but she didn't pay any attention as she finished up the conversation. It was when Ryan made a noise that Kirsten noticed the three men in all black approaching them.

"Mrs. Cohen? It's nice to meet you." She started to back away, started to try to open the car door, and she could see Ryan doing the same, but they weren't fast enough.

"Oh God," she murmured. One of the men grabbed her wrist and the phone dropped from her hand and she screamed for help as he dragged her towards the van.

"Don't hurt her!" She heard Ryan scream, and she saw him struggling against one of the men. She was tossed in the back of the van and she hit her head against the metal door and she struggled to stay conscious. Ryan was thrown in next to her, and one of the men climbed into the driver's seat and started the car, while the other two climbed in the back with them.

One grabbed Kirsten's arms and yanked them roughly behind her.

"I told you not to hurt her!" Ryan said between clenched teeth as his arms were also tied behind him. The man ignored him, instead placing a cloth over Ryan's mouth and his body slumped.

"What did you do to him!" Kirsten yelled. Her head hurt and the world was spinning and the rope cut into her skin and she found it hard to stay awake, and before she knew it, her body was slumped down next to Ryan's.

* * *

"A ransom note?" Sandy questioned.

"They're asking for a million. 500,000 for your wife, and 500,000 for your son," Officer Davies replied. "They want you to drop off the money."

"Dad," Seth started. Ransom. That meant that it wasn't random, Ryan and Kirsten weren't taken randomly, they were targeted. Sandy wasn't sure if that made him feel better or worse.

"A million," Sandy repeated.

"Dad, we have to pay them," Seth said. Sandy nodded and touched Seth's shoulders.

"I know kid," he said. He would pay twice as much to get them back safely. Three times as much, he would sell the house if he had to, to get them back. A million they could do. "We'll pay. I'll drop off the money. We'll pay."

"You have the money?" Officer Davies questioned. Sandy knew that it would be a significant withdrawal from their back account, but they had it, and he nodded.

"We have it. We'll pay."


	2. Chapter 2

Kirsten was scared.

And she was doing a pretty good job at trying to stay calm, and Ryan wanted to tell her that it wasn't necessary. He knew that she was scared, and she had every right to be. Because what the hell was going on?

Kirsten's eyes were closed, but there was a frown on her face, and Ryan sighed. He glanced around the room. There was a small window with bars over it, and a small bathroom with a toilet and a shower. They had opened the door earlier and pushed through a tray of food. Kirsten had gotten up and pulled it over to them. It had looked extremely unappetizing, but both were starving, and so they ate everything on the tray and then had leaned back against the wall and talked about everything but what was happening, and how they would get out of it.

It had been Ryan who had brought it up first.

"Do you think they're looking for us?"

"Sandy and Seth?"

"Yeah." He looked up at her and she took his hand in hers and gave it a squeeze.

"Yes, sweetie, I think they're looking for us."

The door flew open, and Kirsten pulled Ryan back against her.

"Mrs. Cohen, we need you," he said reaching behind Ryan and grabbing Kirsten and yanking her to her feet. Ryan was quick to jump to his feet and reach out for Kirsten.

"Where are you going with her?" Ryan asked.

"We'll bring her back," the man grinned at Kirsten and ran his hand down her cheek. "Maybe." Kirsten closed her eyes and shuddered.

"Don't touch her," Ryan growled. A voice came from behind and the driver of the van walked in.

"We just need her to make a phone call," he said. "You, kid, you stay here." With that, he pulled Kirsten out of the room and closed the door leaving Ryan alone.

* * *

The phone rang and Sandy jumped to his feet. Officer Davies nodded and Sandy grabbed the phone.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Cohen?"

"Yes?"

"I believe I have a few things that belong to you." Sandy closed his eyes.

"Please don't hurt them," he asked. There was a shuffle and he heard his wife's voice.

"Sandy?"

"Baby? Are you okay? Is Ryan okay?"

"We're okay," Kirsten confirmed. Before he could say anything else, she was yanked away.

"Mr. Cohen, did you get my note?"

"Yes, I have the money. I give you the money, and you give me my wife and son. We can work this out." Don't hurt them, Sandy thought to himself. Please, don't hurt them.

"I knew that you would come through. You're really a stand up guy, Mr. Cohen. Don't anyone ever tell you differently. I'll call you with the details of the trade off." The line cut off and Sandy stood for another second as if hoping that Kirsten would come back on the line. Finally he hung up the phone.

"That was Mom? Is she okay? Is Ryan okay?" Seth asked immediately.

"She said that they were okay," Sandy confirmed. A trade off. That was what he had called it. Kirsten and Ryan for a million dollars. At least Sandy knew that they were okay. That was something at least. "What happens now?"

"We wait for him to tell us where and when, and then we start making the arrangements," Officer Davies told him. Sandy nodded. "We're going to get them back, Mr. Cohen."

* * *

Kirsten was thrown back into the room with Ryan and he scrambled over to her.

"Are you okay? I swear to God, if they did…"

"I'm okay," she said softly, placing a hand on his arm. "They called Sandy."

"They did?"

"They've asked for money," she said sighing and closing her eyes. "Ransom." Ryan sat silent for a second, that meant that this was planned. He wondered briefly if they just meant to take Kirsten, if she was the one being ransomed, if they even considered him worth something to Sandy.

"How much?" He finally asked.

"I don't know," Kirsten replied shrugging and opening her eyes again. "I can't…" Her voice trailed off and she bit her lip to stop from crying.

"Hey, it's okay," Ryan said placing an arm around his foster mother. "We're worth something to them." Kirsten nodded and gave Ryan a small smile.

"I should be reassuring you," she said. "Not the other way around."

"You're allowed to be scared, I'm scared shitless."

"Ryan, don't say shit." And he started to laugh, and they both found themselves laughing until they both began to cry. And Kirsten's laughs turned quickly into sobs and she held onto Ryan as she cried.

* * *

When the phone rang the second time, Sandy had to wait for the nod from the officers to pick it up. They were recording and trying to trace the call.

"Mr. Cohen? Do you have what we need?" Sandy looked to the bag at his feet.

"Yes, I have the money. 500,000 for my wife, and 500,000 for my son," Sandy replied.

"Good," he began to give Sandy the details of where to drop off the money, and when, and he ended the call with a warning, "Come alone, Mr. Cohen, no cops, or else I'm going to have to make use out of your wife. She's a very beautiful woman." Sandy heard the dial tone, and felt himself get sick.

Kirsten.

Ryan.

A million dollars for their safety.

"I'm going by myself," Sandy announced to the cops.

"Mr. Cohen," Officer Davies started.

"No," Sandy said adamantly. "I'm going by myself. No cops. He said no cops." Or else, Sandy didn't want to think about that. "Just me. No one else." He stomped out of the living room, and Seth jumped off the couch and followed his father into the kitchen.

"Dad, do you think that's a good idea?" Seth asked.

"Seth, please don't argue with me about this," Sandy said placing both hands on the counter to support himself. He closed his eyes. _Make use out of your wife. A beautiful woman. _Sandy shook the thought from his head. For now, they were okay, they were safe, and he was going to do everything in his power to keep them that way.

If he said no cops, Sandy was going to make sure that there were no cops.

* * *

Kirsten wore herself out from the crying, and she had fallen into a fitful sleep when the door opened and another tray of food was pushed in. Ryan reached for it, and pulled it over to them.

"Kirsten?" He shook her gently. "You need to eat." She nodded numbly, pushing herself up to eat. They ate in silence, and when the tray was empty, Ryan placed it back over by the door.

"When we get out of here," Kirsten started as Ryan sat down by her again. "I want a Big Mac."

"Really? A Big Mac?"

"Yep, what about you?"

"Chili cheese fries," he answered with a small smile. She nodded in approval.

"Then I'm going to eat an entire tub of Chunky Monkey by myself," she continued. "It's going to be glorious. And I'm going to refuse to share."

"Well, I don't like Chunky Monkey, anyway," Ryan said. "Phish food."

"Fair enough," Kirsten said with a small laugh.

"We should ask them if we can have a deck of cards, or something," Ryan suggested.

"Next time we chat, I'll ask them," Kirsten grinned. Ryan grinned back.

"Ask them for better beds too," he replied.

"Cable television?" Kirsten suggested.

"We're picky hostages," Ryan added. She placed a hand on his and gave it a squeeze. She wished that it was just her being held, she wished that Ryan was safe at home with Sandy and Seth, but a part of her was glad for the company. Because as horrible as it was, she shivered at the thought of being here alone.

The door opened the driver, who Kirsten had gathered was in charge of this whole thing, walked in and smiled at her.

"You're coming with me, Blondie," he said yanking her to her feet. "You'd better hope that your husband lives up to his end of the bargain." Kirsten shot a terrified glance back at Ryan, who stood up and grabbed her arm.

"You're not taking her," he said firmly. "Not without me."

"You don't want to go there kid," the man said pulling out a gun and training it on Kirsten. "Or this gets a lot harder than you want it to."

"Ryan, it's okay, I'm okay," Kirsten said softly. Ryan's eyes darted between the gun and Kirsten and finally he let go of her arm. He would not be responsible for getting her hurt, or worse.

"She'll be back, if your father can fulfill his promise, and then you can go free and you can forget about all of this," the man sneered at Ryan. "Otherwise, we're going to have to make good on a promise that we made." With that, he pulled Kirsten out of the room, and she was pulled into another room and the door locked behind her.

Why separate them? Why put her in a different room?

She sunk down onto the bed, and for the second time, sobbed into her hands.


	3. Chapter 3

Kirsten hugged her knees to herself. She closed her eyes and hope that Ryan was okay by himself. She got up and walked over to the bathroom of this room. She looked in the mirror, and was horrified at her appearance. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, and she was pale and there were lines under eyes.

She wondered how long they had been here. She had no concept of time. She prayed that Sandy was okay, and that he wasn't doing anything stupid. She hoped that Seth was okay, and she thought her son and the thought of Seth and Sandy and Ryan made her shiver and a few more tears slipped down her cheeks. She splashed water on her face and then walked back out into the room and sat down on the bed.

This bed was bigger, and was an actual bed, and not just a mattress on the floor. There was no other furniture in the room besides the bed and a small table next to it. It was colder in this room than the other room and she reached for the blanket and wrapped it around herself.

They would get out of here.

She had to keep thinking that, she had to keep thinking optimistically.

Sandy would do everything in his power to keep them safe, and get them out. They would be okay, her and Ryan. They would get out of this safely.

Kirsten just had to keep reminding herself that.

* * *

Sandy gave his son a hug.

"Get them back, Dad," Seth said. Sandy nodded and grabbed his coat and slid his arms into the sleeves.

"I will," he assured Seth.

"Mr. Cohen, please let us do this," Officer Davies tried one more time. Sandy shook his head.

"No cops," Sandy said. "I'm doing this." He had allowed Davies to put a tracker in the money. He allowed the cops to know where the drop was taking place, but he had insisted that he go himself.

If something happened to Kirsten, he would never forgive himself.

Ryan or Kirsten.

They were both out there, and it had been almost ten hours since they had been taken.

Ten hours.

He walked out to his car, with Davies giving him advice the whole way, telling him what to do, and what not to do.

"Be careful Mr. Cohen," Davies said sincerely. "Just call if you need help." Sandy nodded and climbed into his car. He sat for a second, taking a deep breath before starting the car.

He would get them back.

No matter what happened to him, Kirsten and Ryan would get home safely. He would make sure of it.

* * *

Sandy shut the car off and looked around the empty parking lot. There were no other cars, and he was happy to see that the police had followed his instructions, and there were no cops around either. He glanced at his watch, and then glanced into the backseat where the briefcase lay full of money.

A car pulled into the parking lot and blinked its lights at Sandy three times. This was it. This was the car. He wondered if Kirsten and Ryan were in the car. He stepped out of the car and threw one more look into the backseat. He headed over to the parked car.

The window rolled down when he got closer.

"Mr. Cohen? It's so nice of you to show up," the man had on sunglasses and a hat, and Sandy didn't recognize him, and couldn't help but hear Seth quip in his head, "You where your sunglasses at night? So you can, so you can?"

"Where's my wife? Where's my son?"

"See? And I thought that all you cared about was the hospital," the man said with a smile. The hospital? Sandy's mind began to race. What did this have to do with the hospital? "They said, that it wouldn't matter if we took your son, and your wife, that nothing mattered but the hospital."

Oh God, was this his fault? Did they take Kirsten and Ryan because of him?

Kirsten told him to get out. She told him that he was in too deep.

"Where are they?" Sandy asked.

"Do you have my money?" The man asked, the smile never leaving his face.

"Yes. Where's Kirsten? Where's Ryan?"

"Kirsten is very beautiful, isn't she? I've had the pleasure of watching her for the past week. And how lucky were we? The exact moment that we had the opportunity to grab her, your son was with her too. Two for the price of one." They had been watching her? For a week? And he hadn't noticed anything? He hadn't noticed someone watching her, following her?

Guilt coursed through him.

He hadn't been home the last week; he hadn't had a chance to notice anything.

"I want my wife and my son, where are they?" The walkie-talkie that Davies had insisted that Sandy have on him suddenly crackled in his pocket. He silently cursed. The man's eyes darted to Sandy's pockets.

"I told you no cops!"

"I came by myself. I'm here alone…" Sandy pleaded.

"I told you what would happen!"

"Please, please, I'm here alone, please, give me my wife and son, please don't hurt her," Sandy begged. He was panicking. "The money is in the car. I'll go get it. Just tell me where they are." As Sandy backed away towards his car to get the money, the walkie-talkie crackled again. He pulled it out of his pockets and threw it into the woods.

"Deal's off Mr. Cohen," the man said rolling up the windows. "Next time follow the rules. I'll contact you, and we can work out another time and place, and pay close attention Mr. Cohen, there will be no cops."

"Please, don't hurt her! I have the money!"

"The price has gone up," the man yelled out the window. "It's time I make a little visit to your wife…I told you, no cops."

* * *

Sandy stormed into the house and punched Davies in the mouth.

"Dad!" Seth yelled running over. "What happened? Where's Mom and Ryan?"

"I told you no cops! I told you that it was a bad idea," Sandy said. "I said I would go alone, and no help!"

"Mr. Cohen," Davies started.

"No!" Sandy shook his head and refused to let the images of the man and Kirsten get lodged in his head. He could see Kirsten's terrified face in his mind, he could hear her cries, and he shook the thoughts out.

"Dad? Where's Mom and Ryan?" Seth repeated.

"I don't know," Sandy said softly, tears began to roll down his cheeks. "I don't know."

* * *

The door creaked open and Kirsten scrambled to sit up on the bed.

"Mrs. Cohen," the man said smiling at her. "I'm almost glad that your husband refused to listen. This is going to be fun."


End file.
